Principal secy fails to appear in high court, faces dept action

The Allahabad High Court has directed departmental proceedings to be initiated against Principal Secretary (Industrial Development), Sanjeev Saran, for not being present before it with complete records in connection with the procedure adopted for promotion of tainted Chief Engineer (Projects) of the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC), Arun Kumar Mishra.

The court passed the order Monday while hearing a petition filed by Anil Kumar Verma, a senior official of the UPSIDC, questioning the authenticity of the Class X marksheet and other documents related to age certificate of Mishra.

The court had earlier sought the relevant records in original related to age certificates, marksheets and the B Tech degree awarded to Mishra. On May 8, it had ordered the Chief Secretary to be present before it on May 12 with the entire record related to Mishra’s promotion from the post of assistant engineer to the executive engineer and then to the chief engineer.

However, citing the Lok Sabha elections the Chief Secretary sought exemption from appearance and had submitted that the Principal Secretary (Industrial Development), Sanjeev Saran, will be present in court with all the relevant details.

With Saran not making it to the court, a division bench of Justices Arun Tandon and Arvind Kumar Mishra-I, said: “The order of the court has not been complied with… The affidavit (filed by Saran) appears to be a camouflage to not to comply with the order…he shall be proceeded with departmentally for his inaction. The action taken shall be reported to this court by the next date.”

Mishra has been facing inquiries from agencies like the CBI and Enforcement Directorate for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to the known sources of income. His name had also cropped up in the alleged Tronic City project scam of Noida worth over Rs 400 crore.

Incidentally, Saran too had earlier faced the wrath of the High Court, when he was directed to be removed from the post of Chief Executive Officer of the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA), a post he was given after the Samajwadi Party government took over in March 2012. Saran was accused of having caused financial losses to the government exchequer, while being on the same post in the previous SP government.